Apple to launch OS X 10.9 Lynx with Maps and Siri in 2013?

Apple’s OS X 10.9 may be called ‘Lynx,’ and will have Maps and Siri integration, according to new reports.

AppleScoop claims that Apple’s next operating system will follow the big cats trend and be named OS X 10.9 Lynx. That’s according to a ‘reliable source’ who has spoken to someone inside Apple.

Back in 2003, Apple trademarked the names ‘Lynx’, ‘Cougar’, ‘Leopard’, and ‘Tiger’ under the category of “computers’ computer software; computer operating system software”. The company has already used the names ‘Leopard’ and ‘Tiger’, so ‘Lynx’ certainly is a possibility.

However, Lynx is already a well-known brand name in Australia, famous for making deodorants. In the US, Canada and many other countries, Lynx is known as Axe. When Apple launched Mac OS X 10.2 Jaguar, it got into a disagreement with the car maker of the same name, so never officially used the name in any branding of the operating system in the UK. Apple did, however, continue to use the Jaguar fur logo on its software boxes.

Therefore, it’s possible that Apple will decide against using the name Lynx for OS X 10.9 in order to avoid being in the same branding situation again as it did back in 2002 with Jaguar.

9To5Mac reports that early builds of the upcoming operating system indicate that Apple is working on adding Siri and Maps to its Mac products in 2013.

The report cites ‘reliable sources’ who say that OS X 10.9 has Siri voice command integration that can help users carry out functions using just their voice, much like in Apple’s latest iPads, iPhones and iPods.

Apple’s next operating system is still in its early testing stages, so it is not yet clear whether Siri will make it through to the final build of the software. OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion already provides Mac users with the Dictation feature.

The sources claim that Apple is also planning to bring its widely criticised mapping service to the Mac, hopefully after the service has seen a vast improvement over the inaccurate app that was launched with iOS 6 in September.

Should the mapping service make it through the early stages of development on the Mac, it could enable developers to embed the maps into their Mac App Store applications using the MapKit framework like the one made available for developers in iOS 6.

OS X 10.9 has already been appearing in analytics logs across the web, and it is expected that Apple will launch it around July 2013, about a year after it launched Mountain Lion.